The Sun. — London, England, 1809-03-21 00:00:00

IMI'ERI,A,L PARLIAMENT. HOUSE OF PEERS, MONDAY,' MARCH 20. This day the tiouse met at the accustomed hour, wire 'the [loyal Assent was given by dommissionto the. Mutiny Bill, the \Sugar Bill, and several Private Bills. The Conimissioners were the Lord Chancel -IN, the Puke of Montrose, and Lord Ayletford. The Appeal . from the Court of Session in Scot , Mod . , 'the ProVost, Magistrates, and town Countil nt Kircudbright v. Affieck, was again dis Cussed, and juih given 'for the yespondents, with 801. costs. Several Bills were brouglx Iron) the Commons, and the House adjourned. .7 1101.1 SE OF COJVINIONS. . INI6NPAY, MARCH 20. The I-louse was Summoned to attend in the House of Peers,' to hear his Maje Sty's Commission read, by virtue of which the Royal Assent was declared to tlie-Muliny Aft, Sogar Drawback Aet, the . Scotch Chita Murder Aft, and a Naturalization he Marine Mutiny Bill Was pagsed, and ordered to •C:e Lorcb:. ' Mr. CAL(IR AFT moved for an_ account of all sums' p.iid ',by the Paymaster of 1113fillt:S to Chelsea 1-ios r'ital, and the number of Widows of Mai.ines. pen t;ionecl, from the year-1800 to Ist:Q.—Ordered. The, GolOeu-lane Brewery Bill was brought in by Mr. -Loom,. Ail', read a fiat time, and was ordered to h read a second I iine. Thc.: Jamaica Frce Port Bill, and Newfoundland Judicature Bill Were passed„ and ordered to the ,rains. • Mr. MADnocKs obtained leave to bring in a Bill to enable the Hope Insurance Company to sue, and be sued iii the t naMe ofoftheir Managers. • Mr,' W. PoLe obtained leave to bring in .a Bill for the more convenient payments' of Pensions to the Widows of Officers of the Navy, which was read . a first time, and was ordered to be read a second time to-morrow. Mr. Wit,NaToti. brought up the Report of the Committee of Supply, which ,was agreed to. An Account was moved for by Mr. Whitbread, of the Official Value of all Exports and Imports for • three years, to the latest period the same can be made ui, which,. Alter some observations from Mr. Rose, was agreed to. ' . . • Lord Ttibtrt.e gave notice, that he would move on Tuesday se'ennight tin a Copy of Mr. Frere's. Leiter to Striehn Moore. DUKE OF YORK. Lord FoI:A . I . ONT rose, for the ptirpose of post poning to a future day, his notice which stood for this day, for the further consideration of, the evi • deuce adduced before the Comthitteo of Inquiry ioto the conduct . of the Duke of York. The CHANCELLOR Of the ExaliEoLuatt wished to know what object the Nobte Lord had in view, and hi reasons for calling on the, House to agree to this dehy ? • „ L,ord FOLKsTONE replied, Chat Ms . pia was. to prevent their lasing sight of some of the imptoprie-, tics developed by the repOrtof the Conenittee. , • Mr. BATHURST Moved the Order of the Day or the further considernfion of the evidencit in the In- Or/ into the condod of the Doke at York. The C.u.sticia,eiya• of th 3 Exctieettes, before the Order .was read, wished to state a Let which ;night perhaps influence his Hon. Friend to tir.!•is the Resolutilo of which he, had given notice.- This , Ire would. du without any preliminary observations. yo Saturday morning; immediately after the, deci • sien of the Huuse df Comrnons was known, ,and of 11)s own spontaneous motion, his •Royal . Highness the Commander in Chief had tendered his Resigna-, tirro to his Majesty,l,who, with whatever. re/a:tame it might [Rive been,• was graciously pleased . to accept of the saute. The motites which influenced his Royal Highness, to clone this - titne y or to eaing, and. !Or not having thought any former period so proper, • wore so honoarable and, meriterions,, that he (Mr. Pet i'evil) could nor help stating them to'the House in the words of the Letter inwhich iris Resign.ttion was tendered, lie this Letter his Royal. Highness :cried, that-"- " The 'louse of co onions having, after .a most attentive and laborio , c,, ci.,,:54,..;an0n of the clients of certain al lAatintis Massed a Resaltition of: t his innomice, ry.f. now approach his Majesty, and ought , tventare err ro lino Resi4c,ation of the Cilia Corninanct of his 1 1 "istY's , Artily, croild ern Icrogor ere snspecte;t ut ed• Lie in•in any iipprenension of the result, nor be accused of sh , tink from the extent of en Inquiry which, painful as il. ire t hea l , he frosted • NI should appear, even to thcr..; %% i r e hal been ilisjnised to COll4Olllll ColKina, to hive met . 1:11 the pinielgit srtd , '.firlitricss which could arise only tnomal conacfotts innocence, '! The motive hick influetio:d hint arose from the truest sow of duty, and the womest• attachment to his MaktSty, nom which he had never _departed, and which his Majesty if possible, confirmed, by the affectionate and patanal puhcitudo Nthich - be had shewn for his son's honour and wet, upon the present disttessing occasion. To his Majesty, nt" kin end indulgent Father, as , a most gracious So .. verrign, be owaevcry thing;' and the feeling of 'thi4 alnne t.' ii id have prompted him to forego all consideratioha of per ' ti»wil interest in theqletermination which he had taken. It ~ ,tdd not 6e::oirte him to say thit he should net quit with kitrete regret 'a situation in which his Majesty's confidence aid partiality had placed hiM, and the ditties or Mitch it had his.sitsious study and Ills pride, during . fourteen years, '1 in discharge with integrity and . fldelity. - iwheilicr he might t-e alioo.ed to add with advantAge to littMajesty's service, - IA hi rjesay was bet able to coot e." The -Right . Honourable CH ANCRLLOR said he e (mid make' no comment upon . what he hit& just' a' 'Ol, hut leave ir•to his Hon. 'Friend to dniermhie . arty other proceedings on his part. were 'ne cessarr. • 13ATIMKsrperbevaring, the Order vf the , Day rood. BATHunsT . then rose, and declared, that the il:..;An'ttlnt fret which just been .communicated woidd not iudirce hi t s, .to depart from the line ,of c odd& he had laid down for himself, al hi% ,ruse a duty preirented him from availing .even of this opportunity of getting . free from' the un ti`wasant burden imposed upon hint. With truth he lilt4in 68y, he gave the most ample credit to the w a ives which influenced his Royal Highness to.tender hi 3 resignation, tind he was trulysensible.of the. loss publiGAvoiild sustain froixi the want Of his ser vices, No One was more ready than he was to bear testioinny ;0 the genet* good conduet, excellent re lations intrlgkeed into the service, and happy mode of enforcing obedience to them,,:whicti the country owt'l to the Duke of York, and lie had every rea:,on to regret thettircumstances had arisen which caused his removal. But Gentlemen would recoiled, that WOK Ran -passes elltt not .De a r Upon the view ne nut always taken of the se.bjea, and that the event now announced cola take no alteration ,in Isis mode of conduft. In his view, the odious chtirge of corrup tton met with no stronger or .more, determined op:. poeentthan himself. He had voted cheerfully with both the Resolutions . of acquittal moved brthe Right Hon. Gentleman (the Chancellor of the Exchequer), and he regretted extremely, ,that some Gentlemen thought they could not go sO fat - With him. 11..yond that vote he would have gone to say, that no lurking suspicion existed which ought to prevent the Duke of York g oing into the world with clean hands,, The Hon. Gentleman now took a view of•the origi nal state of the question; and what had induced him to take' the nett he did. Still he• thought it necessary, as an admonition to the present,; end an example` to future Commanders, that the Journals of the House of Commons shcnld bettratpou them an expression of the sense, the Hoese entertained open •some,ef the faas u nfolded in this investigatiian, which did not Amount to cortuptionir 'or connivance at curroptlon. lie was also intiiined to persevere in his resolution, frOm a consideration OP! his promise of bringing it for Ward had had some effetlt ie . keeping several gen tlemen' limn voting , with the severer measures, pro= posed. by the Hort. Gentlemao(Mr. Wardle), and hip Hon. Friend (Mr. Bartkes). He conceived that Parliament were called upou to. prenotthee on parts of evidence, not contained in ahe.ongioal charge, if these,parts were material, and particularly so it they were conneeted with the political' qtr stion which arose afterwards; and it was as being thus con neeted, and not as resting on moral grounds alone, that he now asked the House to come to an opinion on the comanmication and interterende• in military matters Which bad been proveu.to exist. He would not go into a statement of the faits which,bore him O.IIL in this Resolution, after, they had been so re peatedly canvasted, and which affixed the only stigma that was attached to the conduct of the Commander in Chief:. The lion, Gentleman defended himself Iron the charge of aggraeating his Resolution by any harsh epithets ; and thought that if something of the kind were not agreed to, it weld(' not be known from their Journals whether they had eot negleaed to look iota the allegations of negligence and :ins condua contained in the evidence. The sound part of the community would look for an opinion upon this point ; others, of a different description, might be dissatisfied with what the House. had done, but when they knew and weighed deliberately the real state of the facts, every thinking person, he was Con vinced, Must be satisfied with their past • Resolu tions. But what, was to satisfy them, kvere .the House not to deliver,an opinion on this material part • of the question,? Justice between the public and his Royal Highness, in his mind, demanded such,a determination. He concluded by reading 'his Reso letion , • , •.4‘. That while the House acknowledges the beneficial ef.. fens of the regul.,rivna adoptvd and, acted upon by his Itbyal Highness the Dekc of York, in the general discharge of his duty as Commander at Chief, they cannot help regretting, that in cons.ignetii.e of a cohnection of the most =mural and unbecoming tendoncy; collimunications had been allowed to be made on military subjeal,,and interl'erct= had taken place in the grant ofprotheitionsand . cOmmissioii, calculated to tits. creditoineoltictal atuninistration of his 'Royal ligliness,alul ,tosive colour; as they liaadonei to charges of toe most 5e rieus nature." Sir NV: CURTIS ;hortly Spoke iu favour of this,p,e sol,ition, and tho , ighti there were nonic tl)ings the table which ought not tr.; o:unnoticed, ' Lord Al..l'llOEl I' ft ;weed with the HatiourAle Gen. tleman who moved the Resolution that it was alms, to the country to , be Lk-privet! of the Servicet of any one who tilled vn 'Official situation, but- he doubted 'Whether in the present instance it would nth be di , minuted by, the Commando . in :laving lost the confidence of the country. As tar 'as th e lo s t 'depended upon the rank of the -individual, after what they had seeivrif the delicacy with which this investigation had been treated by the Honse, he must think every one would agree, with him in thinking that it would, be. better to have in responsible situa tions persons uut so high in rank. The 1 - 16t7. Gen tleman had stated that hls ground for moving the Resolution was, because lielhottOwthe greater ctrarge of corruption not proved. For his t 3 e ri t ' titt ai st iC . l ii in ay that or der to justify the vote he had given, be did, think (the Poke of York had • been proven guilty of connivance 'at corruption. The question did not now ,stand en proper grounds. They ought to shew, that but . for the'retegnation of the Com anander in Chief they would have gene fuhher, and' they ought tri place on' their journals a decision to that etfea— The country, he believed would be satisfied with his removal from his situation, and it • Was not his ohje& in the amendment he had to p ro • pose to trespass on the paternal feelings of-his Ma jesty. The Volte of York, in his opinion, never could regain the confidence of the country, and be re-ap pointed to hi* High Office. lf, however, circum stances ever happened which raised 'him to the Throne, he truSted he would be taught that no Ger.' vant he might chase to appoint, however high or favoured he might . be, could retain his situation when - disappfaved of by the public. The Noble. Lord concluded by. moving as ,an etnenclment t that all the 'words iii the original Resolution after the . Word " that" should he omitted, and the.foll ow i n g' words inseried , .." The Duke of York having re signed, the, House do - not think it necessary'now to proceed any further with 'the Report on the evt deuce adduced before the Connittee,,Ace. as farmit eepco!dithe-Doke of York." y WitiTstirb Kikti g Said a' few words .in so lOW tone that we .could not make out on twhich side he spoke. Mr.*LOCKIIART . agreed generally with the Rasa. solution of Mr. 'Bathurst; and alluded' to a ruis. statement of what had fallen from . him en Friday,. on the main" TJestion; but which had since been etfeaually corrected. Mr. CARTWRIONT did not .see the, necessity for any further proceeding, as ;the resignation of the Commander in Chief was e'perted atonement for any offence less _than corruption alleged against him. He expressed his approbation of In Royal 'Highness's conduCt, and declared 'that he differed utterly in opinion from his Noble Colleague (Lerd Althorpe.) Mr. (NIA PA thaught the people wonld,be fled with the Resolutions ..the House had al re ad y , come to,:and maintained that a Commander Chief above Ministerial irttlUence, appointed by the preto. &alive of the Crown, wss preferable to 3 pL 4, 01 , lower. rank. As didministrations changed, he still remained ; but if Etc was ot:ouch,a description as to fluen - ce, which was more hurtful than any private connection could be. He did not .Ace at had been pzoven that the system of the army had beep touched by such a connection. Every person who had been promoted had a just claim for what they-obtained, and he could not see what right .Parliament had to interfere with the prerogative of the CroWn in tills manner.. He agreed with neither the Resolution nor Amendment, and thought a third would be neces airy, stating, "That though there was, and had been a report of improper 'interference in the Military ad ministration of the Duke of York, nothing of that kind had induced his Royal Highness to promote any Officer contrary to the propriety or the rules of Fervice." If no other Gentleman did, he would move an Amendtbent to this area. The CHANCELLOR at the EXCHEQUER said, that after the communication he' had had , the honour to make, he did think the House and his Honoura ble Friend would have been of opinion ,to • proceed farther was wholly unnecessary; ,if, however, it was considered proper to proceed, 'he could have no objedion to meet the discussion. With respect to the proposed Resolution and Amendment, he could only say, he preferred the Aniendment to the ori ginal Resolution, ; but he could not agree even to the Amendment, unless it was. farther amended, as he considered it by no means unexceptionable. He did justice to the motives 'which actuated his Hon. Friend (Mr. Bathurst), who, he believed, through . our the, whole business, ad ever given his vote, as the best feelings of his heart, did ated ; but he would not 'accede or the proposed Resolution, as he thought much censure was contained in it with little founda tion. Convinced as he was of the Duke's innocence, he could at no time have given it his approbation 4 at no stage of the proceedings could such a Resolu tion hate received his support ; if Then such a prowl. duce would not have appear e d ju s t to- him ist any pe riod of the investigation, it certainly was not to be expected that he could now give it his suffrage, when the Puke of York, by voluntarily resigning his COHI - had given the most ample atonyment he could possibly be desired to make by his Honourable Friend, a greater than he could have expected .; 'nay more, a greater than he cou ld h ave as k e d. He ob-, jeCted . more particularly to the word now in the pro posed Amendment; If his ideas .were corre&, th e Noble Lord distinct ly stated corruption and conni vance, proved ; if he (Mr. Perceval) was of that opi nion, he should undoubtedly think effectual mea sures ought to be taken to guard zgainst his ever be ing placed again' at the head of the army. Rut he, for his part, was naturally of opinion that his Royal Highness was wholly innocent of corruption dr con nivance, but the House had negatived the charges preferred 'against him. , If he understood a-ri , ,ht, the House, in adopting such a Resolution, would countenance that which had so recitolly ;seen missed with their negative. The , Lord had made some observations on the imririety of plac ing one of the Royal Family in a a 4 Pansible office, from the difficulties which obstructed any proceed ing, instituted against one so pear to the throne, through'the delicacy which' must necessarily be ob serVed, while endeavouring to make a person thus sitUaterfamenable to the laws of his country. Now, he did think, if there was a time when that assertion appeared to be unfounded, it was at the present, tiar he was not aware that in the course or the recent in vestigation that any peculiar difficulties had retarded their prneeedines, and he realty was unable to per ceive that they had been withheld by any peculiar delicacy, from prosecuting their inquiries, as they otherwi s e would have done had the Commander in Chief been of less exalted, rank. He did not see, after negativing the charges brought forward, how the House could', consistent with its dignity, exclude his Royalflighness front the army for ever,:. had not the Noble Lord made use of the word c` null," he (the Chancellor of Exchequer) would have Reit at a loss to comprehend the drift Of his Atneedment ; 'but it . 'appeared to him, unjust thus to reserve to themselves the right of again reviving their proceed ings ag a in st hi s Royal Highness at any future period. He, did think the punishMent so disproportionate, that he thriught every one who' had voted for acquit tine ,the Duke of corruption and connivance would, ' agree with him in the propriety of expunging the' Word ‘c now" from the Amendment;' he therefore shOuld move as an Amendment on the .Noble Lord's Amendment on his Hon. Friend's Resulinfon, that the word " now" be expunged. ' M. HUTCHINSON Stlppollecl ReSOIUtTOII. Mr. MANNINO felt H his duty to support the Re, sohnion or the Hon. Gentleman opposite. Sir CHARLES PRICE, though he did not believe the Commander in Chief guilty of c orruption or conni vance' thought his Conduct highly censurable. Lord FoLic.sroNa agreed with an Honourable Member, that something should be done, and there only did he agree with the Gentleman who had Spoken on that side of the • House. Thinking, as'he did,that his Royal Highness was not tree from corrup tion, he certainly , was of opinion that he was unit to hold the command of the army ; and as 116'heid now resigned it, ought never again be perthitted to resume it. Much had been said of the little regard which had been paid to delicacy in thecourse of the; prOceedings. It 'was trite many Gentlemen had expressed their undisguised sentiments 00 the con thia of .the Duke; many speeches 110 been made against the Commander in Chief, though he was of the Royal family ; but this circumstance atone was not stitfleient to overthrovi( the objections which had been started against placing a Prince:of the Blood in a responsible Situation. - -lad such proCeedings been instituted against any one else, on such grounds; as those on which the • late .investigatio had hken place, the person accused would have been dismiss ed. .He concluded, strongly supporting the Noble Lard's Amendment. Sir JOHN SEDRIGBT supported the Resolution, but would vote for the Amendment of the Chancel lor of the &chequer rather than the original Amend ment. 'Lord TEMPLYt said, the words quoted by the Chancelhir of the Exchequer from the Duke of York's Letter,' rendered it impossible for him to forbear stating tht grounds on which he should give Us vote. He should vote for the Amendment of his Noble. Ft iend. He did not think the Chancellor oldie Exmequer did well nt making the communi cation ro quote th e . Duke's words, stating, that the period bad arrived when, hii innocence was made clear. H e had voted i n fa vour o f tne D u ke , as h e did not believe his Royal Highness guilty of corny- :1 II claration' of innocence be mutt ,enter his protest-- In - his opinion, a strong charge 'remained behini; miscondua wastertainly. to be , charged against ins Royal Highness; and while he was thus censiirabit,, he thought such a declaration too strong; it wthil.l have been batter had his friends advised him to have adopted a different style. He Imight haVe saicrwith greater propriety, that he bowed to the wishes of • the country ;. and though the House of. Commons had acquitted him of corruption or connivance, he . wished to manifest his deference to the general sen timents -r of the nation, by laying down the command of the army. • Promptly as lie (Lord T.) agreed with the other Honourable Members in opinion, that his Royal, Highness was, not guilty of, corruption, and promptly as he gave his vote for acquitting him of connivance,' yet he could not think' his innocence sd completely established as to justify the expression made use of in the letter. He could not agree with the proposesl Resolution, as 'he thought it in no instance just. Had the Commander in Chief been pronounced • guilty, it would not have gone far eoongli ; hut, brought forward now, in his opinion, it went much too far. If it was tho'ught impropex to continue the Duke of York in the situation of Commtinder in Chief any longer, it was not for Parlia ment to endeavour to remove him ,by a side wind, but to proceed openly, and remove in the face of day. He could not see the propriety of putting out the word " now ;" and, in the present state of things, tO•proceedfarther he thought would be un necessary. Mr. DAVIS GIDDY ob s erved, - that the Chance llor of the Excheque e h a d sa id it would be extremely ry unjtfst towards the Doke to sulfer any degree of lin biguity to attach itself to liis charmer, and teat, therefore, • it behoved them to pronounce 44 1 1 guilty ,or not guilty. He wished the public to be crinvinc ed of the propriety of voting as they had done , Th e Honourable Gentleman concluded by 611 p pur ileig - the Amendment of the Chancellor of the Exche quer. . Mr: ADDINGTON supported the original Resolu tion, and vindicated the measure proposed by his Hon. Relation (Mr. Bathurst). Mr. Booms thought Mrs. Clarke had possessed an improper influence over his Royal Highness.- - •. He was as superior to popular clamour as any other Hon. Member, but be rejoiced to see the lower of+ dens - of 'society express their sentiments with free! done, As the evidence laid before them had reach ed the remotest corner or the kingdom, he would' wish their decisions to be made equally public, as well as the motives by which•they bad been satiated •• while forming their decisions. Mr. THOLINTON censured the conduct of the Duke of York, as considered in a moral point of view. 'Mr. WHITBREAD thought it right to explain whY he concurred with the amendment of the Noble , Lord. The resolution he could by no means approve. Which the Honourable Gentleman had brought for" ward. There were different ways of cOnsideritio things; but for the known gravity of the Speaker on all oecasions,.andthe gravity of his manner on that occasion, he shiatild have been inclined to "p si " der what had fallen under the cognisance of the! House as very, ludicrous. The Commander,inCh ie ; it 'appeared,-had resigned.'—whether he had resign `''_ from a conscious sense of , innocence, or ou t of (!c: ference-te• the Minority, it•was no t for hitn 1° cid tide. But he thought the Honourable Gen tle ' lla t ri p opposite (the Chan ce ll or o f t h e Excheqder) very fairly ,be attacked for abandoning the D° l4e " seeing he,believed him.innocent lte-vlidbeite Ve him free from all that'had been imputed to if be really thought the Duke a valuable servant tit: the public, it should 'have bven his duty to have advised his Majesty. riot to, receive the resignation of his ;loyal Highness. He, did not think it well in'the Gentleman, nutter such circumstances, to de sert hint. -For his part,' he thought, as the Deka': re s t 4 naiton, a rival stop should puthad se to 'the h e p is roceediligs. wasAiitisfied, and Ile felt assured the Country would be satisfied; Aber the end they had in view had been accomplished, he thought it ungenerous to** thus on the Conn:ll3v der in dhiet, behind . as it were. Had. he sent to his resignation before the proceedings had closed, LC Jmight nave been necessary to have conies to a speci" fic vote ; but, assembled as they were to determine whether 9r no he should be deprived of the COLI mend of the army, when it appeared he bad al• ready resigned, he thought it useless' to proeceli.''" The country would be satisfied with the resigliAtt° 3 pf the Duke of York; but if . they thought it wa s .'in contemplation to re-instate blot in his office in 8 month, they would say Parliament has done nothiug• The Hon. Gentleman spoke of: the inutility of pongipg the word ," now " some tength. Elee then commented on, the different opinions whien„' had existed, and the division of parties Which. boa taken .place ip the course of the discussion. 11 eve r a question was carried against all portico, it was that' He hoped it would in some nieasure tend tci late that party which Lord Chatham had said, exist ing behind the throne, had 'greater patter than throne; and which he believed had called into bet in the present Administration. After a few further' . observations ' the Honourable Gentleman s'l'v e r rz to the t)ndtid of Sir Win. TemPle, who told MI Charles the Second that his Majesty might 111'1)°"1 fire or ten Mini - teen if he thought proper, b ut unless he sele6ted sensible men, the nation would deriv e °o benefit from such appoin t m ents . > He then spoke f the disposition manifested by certa i n Hon. Membe rs to , read the - Duke of York a leethire on the imino." rainy of his condu& He thought Princes to 1)1 2 pitied rather thantenvied-i—the temptations to whi e t ! they were, exposed were great, t heir means , :g f investigating them comParatively smalls -they seld om had men about them ha r dy enoug h, litre Sir NV. Temple, to speak the truth ;• their vices are flattered and their depravity not unfrequently heightened b y those about them. AnothCr circumstance exi 4 teu , . which . not %Infrequently, tw feared, wintered then ) less impervious to vic e th an they (; /..l ics .' w i's t ! would, be, that of their being Irequen:iy seeking':' ' an licsnourible union wile re ~11,etIons are invo luntarily attracted by the If FOtigtiblens.ofbean ty, because the fair one is of British birth. These circumstances should be considered as offering soLfl thing in extenuation (*immorality in Princes; --•'W O ought not to bytti men, and then rigidly punish lbenl the natural efietts 61 their being galled by their fetters. He next noileettithe ,conduct of certain Officers, who; he understood, had torened a doligo of addressing his Royal, Highness, desiring